From John Bambenek…
Today is the first day of early voting. Illinois law allows for various days of early voting at locations throughout the state. You can find information on where to vote early at this website under “Early Voting”.
As you know, one of the questions you will see is whether to adopt a state constitutional amendment to allow voters to recall the Governor. I urge voters to vote no on this “worse than nothing” provision that only allows voters to recall the Governor when politicians decide it is ok. Before voters could circulate petitions to gather the one MILLION signatures necessary, they need to get a signed permission slip from 30 legislators, 15 from the Governor’s OWN PARTY, which means no recall would ever get off the ground.
Some say this is necessary to prevent partisan games. Yet, 18 other states have had recall for over a century and not one instance of a partisan or special interest driven recall drive was anywhere close to getting a recall election on the ballot. Illinois would be the only state that would limit recall to the whims of legislators. Vote no and demand they go back and do it right.
Find more information on the recall amendment at: http://www.illinoisrecallamendment.org
Or join the Facebook page.
Lastly, as part of the Illinois Local Government Project, I have been looking for people to run for local office for the municipal elections in February and April in 2011. As part of that effort, I’m providing resources for concerned taxpayers like yourselves to get involved. This Thursday, I’m going to have one of the first of a series of conference calls to help potential candidates launch their campaigns.
This week I will cover petitioning and getting on the ballot. Some of that may be old hat to those of you running, if so, don’t feel compelled to get on the call. For the rest of you, please sign up at the Illinois Local Government Project and I will get the conference call details out to registrants tomorrow.
Thanks for all you do and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
John Bambenek
http://www.facebook.com/JohnBambenek
http://www.twitter.com/bambenek